The present invention relates to a method for obtaining authenticity identification devices for using services in general wherein authenticity is guaranteed without resorting to the manufacturer of the device to ensure its validity, and to the identification device thus obtained.
It is known that many identification devices are currently available and are manufactured according to the most disparate criteria, such as for example with a magnetic band, with variously shaped optical codes, with a microprocessor or with other systems; all have the particularity that their vulnerability to forgery is in practice inversely proportional to their cost.
The least vulnerable devices are characterized in that they resort to codes that can be programmed only by the manufacturer of said devices by means of equipment that is particularly expensive and is accordingly deemed to be not easily available to possible forgers.
However, this type of device has several drawbacks, the first whereof resides in the fact that one is totally dependent on the manufacturer of the device for generating valid devices.
Among these devices, the most widespread are constituted by the Watermark magnetic code, by various devices with read-only memory (ROM), and also comprise transponders, microprocessor cards, hologram-based codes, optical cards, and the like.
However, during the reading of devices of the above described type to verify their authenticity, it is necessary to link the permanent data of the manufacturer to those related to the service user by means of complex data processing or by direct connection to a remote data bank.
Another drawback of the above mentioned solutions is the fact that devices programmed directly by the manufacturer with secret unique codes must be guarded with many precautions during storage, since they are already intrinsically valid and can thus be used directly by any ill-intentioned person.